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Most coaches are reluctant to study sport mechanics; from experience they equate it with boring texts loaded with formulas, calculations, and scientific terminology. That’s not the case with Sport Mechanics for Coaches. This updated third edition provides an introductory look at the mechanics of sport in a manner that’s understandable and usable for the novices in the field.

Author Brendan Burkett—Paralympic gold medalist and world-record holder—pours his love of sport and his expertise as an award-winning engineer and biomechanics professor into this enhanced, revised, and reformatted text. Divided into three parts covering the fundamentals of sport mechanics, mechanical principles, and application of the knowledge to sport contexts, this text highlights real-life sporting achievements and the mechanics behind them. Various pedagogical aids including review questions and practical activities are featured, allowing students and coaches to gauge their understanding of key concepts chapter by chapter.

Since the previous edition was published, technological advancements have expanded the coach’s and athlete’s toolbox. Sport Mechanics for Coaches includes nearly 150 illustrations and photos and all-new content to help readers understand and incorporate technology and state-of-the-art sport equipment to enhance training, identify errors in technique, and improve performance.

Coaches, students, and athletes with a curiosity about how and why things work in the world of sport and a desire to improve performance will find Sport Mechanics for Coaches refreshingly easy to read, comprehend, and put into practice.

Sport Mechanics for Coaches is a valuable component of the American Sport Education Program (ASEP), a leading provider of coaching education courses and resources to youth, high school, club sport, and college coaches. To learn more about ASEP curricula, courses, and resources, visit www.ASEP.com.

Contents

Part I Sport Mechanics Fundamentals

Chapter 1 Making a Smart Move

Sport Mechanics

How Sport Mechanics for Coaches Can Help You

How Sport Mechanics for Coaches Is Organized

Chapter 2 Starting With Basics

Basic Mechanical Principles

The Gravity of the Situation

May the Force Be With You

Part II Mechanical Principles in Sport

Chapter 3 Getting a Move On

How an Athlete Moves (Forces, Momentum, and Impulse)

What Happens When We Move (Work, Power, Energy, Rebound, and Friction)

How to Measure “Getting a Move On” in a Running Gait

Chapter 4 Rocking and Rolling

How an Athlete Rotates (Angular Motion)

Mechanical Principles for Rotation (Lever Systems)

How an Athlete Initiates Rotation

What Happens When We Rotate (Velocity, Force, Inertia, and Momentum)

How to Measure Angular Velocity During Cycling

Chapter 5 Don’t Be a Pushover

How an Athlete Can Avoid Being a Pushover (Stability)

Mechanical Principles for Stability

Factors That Determine Stability

How to Measure Center of Gravity and Line of Gravity

Chapter 6 Going With the Flow

How an Athlete Goes With the Flow

Mechanical Principles for Moving Through a Fluid

Factors That Influence Moving Through Air and Water

Part III Putting Your Knowledge of Sport Mechanics to Work

Chapter 7 Analyzing Sport Skills

Step 1: Determine the Objectives of the Skill

Step 2: Note Any Special Characteristics of the Skill

Step 3: Study Top-Flight Performances of the Skill

Step 4: Divide the Skill Into Phases

Step 5: Divide Each Phase Into Key Objectives

Step 6: Understand the Mechanical Reasons Each Key Element is Performed as It Is

Chapter 8 Identifying and Correcting Errors in Sport Skills

Step 1: Observe the Complete Skill

Step 2: Analyze Each Phase and Its Key Elements

Step 3: Use Your Knowledge of Sport Mechanics in Your Analysis

Step 4: Select Errors to Be Corrected

Step 5: Decide on Appropriate Methods for the Correction of Errors

Chapter 9 Mechanics of Selected Sport Skills

Getting a Move On

Rocking and Rolling

Don’t Be a Pushover

Going With the Flow

Audiences

As a textbook or supplemental textbook for students in coaching,
physical education, and kinesiology and for exercise physiology majors
or minors taking introductory biomechanics or sport mechanics courses.
As a reference for sport coaches—primarily high school coaches—who need
to understand fundamental concepts of mechanics in order to improve
their athletes’ performance. As a reference for physical education,
physics, and kinesiology professionals working with student-athletes;
and as a reference for athletes who need to understand mechanics and
technology and maximize their potential.

Brendan Burkett is an associate professor at the University of
the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. He received his
undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering and attained his
doctorate in biomechanics from the Australian Institute of Sport.
Burkett’s specializations are teaching biomechanics, sports coaching,
and performance enhancement. His research revolves around technology
developments in human health and performance. Burkett has written more
than 30 peer-reviewed articles and 180 conference publications for
journals in sport science, biomechanics, and coaching.

As an international elite athlete, Burkett represented Australia for 13
years as a swimmer and was the Paralympic champion, world champion,
world-record holder, and multiple medalist in the Commonwealth Games and
Australian national championships. He served as the Australian team
captain for the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games and as the flag bearer for
the Opening Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Burkett served as
the national sport science coordinator for the Australian Paralympic
team for the 2002 and 2006 World Championships and the 2004 Paralympic
Games. He also worked with the Australian swimming team in preparation
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He has received several awards, including the Australia Day Sporting
Award, the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) as an ambassador for the
Sydney Paralympic Games, and the Australian Sports Medal. Burkett was an
invited scholar for the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Adapted Physical
Activity in 2007 and was part of the Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit in the
theme area of developing a long-term health strategy.